Feeding apparatus.



H. E. LINDBLADH.

FEEDING APPARATUS.

APPLlcAloN man :UNE 25,1913.

m2559963@ Patented Mar. 1918.

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H. E. LINDBLADH.

F`EEDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man )UNE 25,1913.

. S Patented Mar. 5, H318.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

H'. E. LINDBLADH.

FEEDING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man uns 25. :913.

` Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

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"parentreason, and when the stock 'is'highly 'glazed they becomeinoperative, advancing'V To all 'who/a t may] concer/1L.'

v.larged details illustrating successive stages UNTED STATES PATENTOFFICE.,

HARMON E. LINDBLADH, or*

BoSToiv, MASSACHUSETTS.

'FEEDING APPARATUS,

Application filed 1' u11'e'25, 1

Be it known that nI, HARMON El LINU- isLa'Dir, a citiZenof the'U'nitedStates, residing at' Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new anduseful Feeding Apparatus, of whichthe following is a specification.

1n apparatus for successively advancing sheets of thin material' from apile, as paper'- feeders, much difficulty is encountered', espe# ciallywith rapidly operating devices, in o'b-I taining an Aaccurate deliveryof single sheets." Pneumatic feeders are, "at best, slow'v in ac-v tion,and when the stock operated upon 'is porous, the suction means is veryliable 'to' pick up a plurality of sheets. The wellknown buckling typeof feeders is erratic inE this respect, varying the delivery fornoapsometimes one-,`sometimes two, or, again, many sheets with the sameadjustment of" elements. It is the purpose 'of this invention to providemeans free from complication whereby the feeding shallbe effectedquickly and with precision, and to generally improve the feedingapparatus. ln the accompanying drawings appears asingle embodiment ofthe invention,` Figure 1' being a top plan view thereof; Fig. 2 a frontelevation, parts being broken away; Fig. 3 a side elevation lookingfrom-the left in 1Eig. l; Fig. 4 an elevation of the 'opposite f side ofthe machine, parts Vbeing omitted; Fig. 5 a front elevation of theadvancing mechanism; Fig. G' a sideelevation 'of the same; Fig. 7 anenlarged detail .showing the indicating mechanism, and Figs. S and 9enof the feeding operation.

Similar characters designate like parts throughout the various figuresof the drawings.

The reference characters 10, 10 are appliedV to vertical.'standardswhich rise from a suitable base. Stepped in a'bearing lliatthe bottom ofeach of these standards is a screw 12 engaging a correspondinglythreaded opening in a lateral projection or lug 13V from ai beam 14e.'This beam supports a table 15 adapted to receive a pile S of the sheetsto be fed. Extending forwardly, or

' in the direction of advance of the work,

from each of the standards 10 are supports in the form of'horizonta-lrods 1G, 1G, situated one above the other and free at their Y'Specicatioiiof Letters'latent.

atented Marf, 1918.

91s. serial No". 775,737.

lforward ends: VOn each pair'of these rods are'blocks'or carriers 17 andl8fadj`iistablyv secured on 'their 'supporting' rods by setscrews 19.y'flieblocksl 17 and 18, respectively, haveextendingI through openings inthem transverse rods orsiipports 20 and 21,

and on these' ro'dsl midway -`between the standardsl are held blocks-orcarriers 23 and :24, i'espectively','by"set-screws 25.* The lastnamedblocks have 'mounted vin them at their upper portions an actuating rod26, and belowfiirn'ish lbearings' for a shaft 27; The rod 26 and sha-ftQfarefurther .supported at the rearbyl blocks 'or 'carriersQS and 29,respectively. adjiistably iXed :by'fset1screws 30 to transversesupporting rods 31 and 32; ivhich are, in"turn;"removablymounted in`pairsof brackets 33,-

ixed tothe rear side of the standards.

Secured tothefextremityof the r'od 26 is a vbearing head 64,' inwhichis' splined for vertical reciprocationa presserufod 35. The rodisffurther guided by ai sleeve' Sfhaviiig an arm 37 vsurrounding and'positioned by the shaft 27. t'tlie" bottom of 'the' 'rod 35 fixedY apresser-foot' 38 lforretaining the lsheets against forward `iiiovemen-t,said j )resser-foot t liaving 'ay compound sheet-engaging face furnishedbyablock 39 of some such yie'ldable material as rubber, and a forward`rigid surface 40, 'whichis'preferably justable thereiirto'position the1engaging surfaces longitudinally of the -apparatus by means of lascrew`42threaded"through the rear of thepresser-foot and Aswivel'ed into theadjacent edge'o'f the plate '11.' A lockiiut 13 serves to securethe-screw and plate atthe desiredpoint.' The engagingsurfaceV of thepresser-footw-is forced-against the -sheetsby a springrflhhaving'itsuppei' end abutting against the sleeve 36-t while itslower end rests upon Ya collar-45 adjustably secured-to the rod 35 by a4screw 46; Up-

`ward or downward 'movement ofthe collar provides formi-increaseor-dimin'ution in tlietensionof the sprl-ng, and therefore the forceexerted by thepresser-foot lupon the Y sheets. i The pi'esser-foot-israised from the Vwork by a' cam 47, fast upon the rearextremityof-theshaft 27 and cooperating 'with an anti-friction r'oll 48 journaledfin'the forked extremity of a rod egwhiclif is mounted to slide through apairof bracket-sy 50, pro.-

jecting from the rod 85. The upper portion of the rod a9 is threaded,and carries a nut- 51 contacting` with the top of the upper bracket 50,for the purpose of varying the position of the roll 48 with respect tothe cam and thus the extent of lift of the presserfoot- The rod a9 isretainer in its adjusted position by a set-screw 52 passing through thelower braclret into engagement with the rod. in this lower bracket therod is splined to retain the roll in the proper relation to the cam.

The shaft 27 is rotated to actuate the cam t7 by a spiral gear 53,splined to the shaft and retained in a delinite position with relationto the apparatus between cheeks in the block 2e while allowing the shaftto move through it. lVfeshingw with the gear 53 is a second spiral gear5e fast upon a transverse shaft 55 journaled at the bottom of the blocks18, 18. This imparts rotation to mechanism for drawing the sheets fromthe etaining means or presser-foot. Two such mechanisms are furnished,these being symmetrically situated with respect to the longitudinal axisof the machine, and each having pairs of independent arms 56, 56 adaptedto be fixed to the shaft by set-screws 57 which permit the angularrelation of the arms 56, 56 to be varied with respect to one another.Upon the outer ends of the arms 56 are fulcrumed levers 58 and 59provided at their outer extremities with curved sheet-engaging faces 60and 61, respectively. The former I term a fanningz member, because ofits action in zeradually advancing` or earring the sheets, and the faceof this is smooth and ri gid, being preferably of metal. The face 61 isupon a feeding member, and is provided with a laver of some suchyieldable material as rubber. which will give strongy frictional effect.Both levers 58 and 59 are drawn against stops 62 proiectinn from thearms by springs 63, extending be tween eyes 64 projecting' from the hubsof the arms and eye-bolts 65 passing through the ends of the leversopposite the shaft engaging faces. Nuts 65a threaded upon the eye-boltsoutside the arms enable the operator to adjust the force with which theworking fa ces bear against the sheets. The feedine face 61 is carriedby a movable shoe 66 which may be held in two positions by a screw 67.In full lines in Fien 6 Vis shown the normal or feeding position. whilein dotted lines in the same fieure the shoe is illustrated as thrownback. thus rendering; the feedingsurface ineffective and allowing` thefannine; surface to act alone. When in the last-named position theworkman can canse the fannine' member to impart to the pile of sheets alongitudinal displacement preliminary to the feeding of the first sheet,thus avoiding: the necessity for inaccurately performing the operationby hand The action of the cam 4:7 is so timed that the presser-foot israised from contact with the pile of sheets (see particularly Fig. 8) asthe sheet-advancing mechanism, rotated in the direction of the arrow,brings the member 58 against the upper sheet of the pile. its the smoothmetallic surface 60 of this member slides over the sheet, its frictionalengagement therewith not only moves this sheet in the direction of feed,but also certain of the sheets below, the extent of advance decreasingfrom the top downward. llfhen the sheets have been thus fanned out, themember 60 passes on in its rotation from the tcp sheet (Fig. 8), and thepresser-feetV is forced down by the spring t upon the edges of thejegged sheets. By a. suitable adjustment of the spring 68 of the fanningmember, and by varying the longitudinal relation of the engaggingsurfaces of the presser-foot by the screw e2, the roughened surface Al0may be made to clear the top sheet of the pile and engage only thesecond sheet, while the flexible material 39 bears on the succeedingledges of the sheets which have been displaced, it generally conformingto their ineline. llfhen all the sheets except the upper, and especiallythe second sheet which is most. liable to improper delivery, are thusfirmly held. the yieldable surface 61 engages the upper sheet andthrusts it forward until it is seized by the rolls R, R which deliverdirectly to the machine fed. The timing of this operation may becontrolled by the annular adjustment of the feeding member with relationto the fanninf; member. The exact pressure for a positive advance of theupper sheet, without bringing' too great tension upon sheets below whichare retained by the presser-foot. may be assured by an adjustment ofspring 63 controlling' the feetL member.

The removability of the rods 3l and 32 permits the rod 26 and shaft 27of the presser-foot to be adjusted to any desired point over thefeed-table, to provide for correct coperation with sheets of different.lenpgths. the blocks 17 and 18 being correspondinaly adjusted torespectively provide the necessary bearings for the elements 26 and 9.7and to properly position the advancin!Y mechanism.

Rotation is imparted to the shaft by a eear 68. secured to it. anddriven through large idler 69 from eear 70 connected to some source ofpower. The short shafts of the gears 69 and 70 are supported upon one ofthe rods 16. which may be larger than its companions, by means of blocks72 and 73 adjustablv secured to the rod. From the block 'l2 depends acurved arm 741-. having' in it a segmental slot the center of which islocated at the aXis of the gear 69. The gear 68 is so fixed to the shaft55 as to be Y readily removable, and by changing-the di- "rotation ofthe sheet-advancing mechanism vvameter of this gear and' correspondinglyad justing the gear'69 along its slot the rateof may be -altered asdesired.

" Upon the shaft fixed `beside' the gear 081 isa. sprocket Wheel 75,driving by a chain 7 6 aY Wheel 7 7 fast upon a shaft 78.k This shaft isjcurnaledl in blocks 79 each adjustably 'se-- curedv by aset-screiv to arod L71 extendingV horizontally from the top of astandard 10.l The shaft78 has secured to it a crank-disk', the pin of which is joined by a rod81 to'a link 8:2 depending from theoutcr face of the standard 10.Pivoted at the-bottom of the;l

link is a paivl 83 coperating with the teeth gears 87 at the upper endsof the screws 12.

lt will be seen that as the ratchet-'is oscil# lat-ed upon the. link bythe rotation of the crank-disk, it uill advance the ratchet-Wheel' stepby step rotating the sha-ft 85, and through the bevel-gearing `graduallyturning the screws 12, thus raising the table 15 to-` ward thesheet-engaging members.

As the elevatingl mechanism just described imparts a regular movement tothe table not dependent upon the character of the mate rial fed, itwouldafter a time, if thin stock were being handled, bring the top of thepile to a height at which anv excessive pressure would be exerted uponit by the advancing members. tion under such conditions is much greaterthan the ate at which the height of the pile is reduced. To regulatethis 1 provide automatic means for temporarily arresting the upward feedof the table. The paivl 83 has a long forwardly extendingl arm 88, Withan inclined extremity 89 With which coperates a roll. 90 journaled upona lever 91 fulcrumed between its'ends on a bracket 92. Depending fromthe lever between the roll and theI fulcrum-point is a rod'93 positionedby a pair of nuts 91, 9st threaded upon the rod at opposite sides of thelever. Journaled at the bottom of the rod isa roll 95 which is allowedto float lightly upon the upper sheet of the pile or in proximity to theline of feed, its pressure being controlled by a counter-Weight 96movable upon the arm of the lever 91opposite that upon Which the roll 90mounted. During' the limits of height of the pile in which the fanningand feeding` members will' properly cooperate with the sheets. thcposition of the roll 95 does not affect the ratchet mechanism, but whenthe upper sheet o t' the pile too closely approaches the advancing`members, the rod 93 and roll 90 raise the arm 88 sutliciently tocomplet-ely disengage the payvl from the ratcheteivheel, and, thoughthercrank-disk That is, the rate of table-elevaeontinues to rotate,thepaWl oscillates idly.

lVhen, however, thepile has been lowered, because -of the interi-uptedytable-elevation to the necessary extent, the fall of the rod andv leverallows the paWl to again engage the `wheel and the table-feedis resumed.

'to the apparatus.

'Sheetsare ordinarily separated after being` operated upon by themachine tol Which the feeder delivers into bundles 'containing somedefinite number. It is customary, for example, for the operators ofruling machines to separate the successive reams of paper on the Vtableof the feeder by'slipsvof paper, and if they observe When these slipsare reached, they can remove the ruled sheets in" bundles of fivehundred each. It is ditli* cult for the 'attendant to `give this matterthe necessary attention, and too many sheets are frequently fed andbundled. The indicating mechanism which will now be described, and whichis the subject of my divisional application, Serial Number 178085 'Atiled July 2, 1917, prevents this.

Fixed to the shaft 55 just inside one of the standards 10 is anactuating finger` or proj cction 97 cooperating with the teeth'f a Wheel981nounted upon the standard, these teethbeing illustrated as twenty innumber. At the'periphery of the Wheel is a projection 99 adapted toengage any one of the y teeth of a Wheel 100 fixed to rotate inproximitv to the Wheel 98; he Wheel 100 is shown as having' twenty-tiveteeth.l Both wheels; while turning loosely on their supports. may beheld against too free rotation by any desired means, as by the pressureof springs 101; It will be seen that after the ne'er 97 has engaged theteeth of the Wheel 98 twenty times, the projection 99 Will have beenmoved thro ugh three hundred and sixty degrees; so that once in eachcomplete rotation of the Wheel 98 it will engage a tooth of the vwheel100. and after live hundred revolutions of the projection 97, ora number'correfuionding"to the sheets in a ream, the

. (in the wheel 100,. here illustratedr as beine' on opposite sidesthereof, are projecsignal ldevice 109. Once in each rotation of theWheel 100,01' forfive hundred sheets fed, the projection 102 will strikethe arm 10%, raising the lever from the stop. rl`hen as the projectionpasses away from the arm, the tensioned lever falling upon the stop willcause the hammer to strike the gong, thus warning the attendant that aream of paper has been delivered by the feeder. lThe projection 103contacts with one arm of a lever 110, the opposite arm of which has anangular end or latch 111 adapted to engage a depression 112 in a Wheel118. This Wheel is secured to an oscillatory support or shaft- 11-1extending across the machine and journalcd in brackets carried by thestandards 10, and has lined to it an arm 115 upon which is a weight 116tending to force a pencil er marking device 117 against the top sheet ofthe pile. The shaft 11at also carries a secont. arm or setting' member118, which when the pencil is resting upon the sheet lies iu the path ofthe linger 97. lhen the gong is struck, as a result of the contact ofthe projection 102 with its actuating arm, the. projection 103 alsoengages the lever 110, withdrawing the latch'111 from theWheel-depression. rllhis releases the pencil, causing it to mark thelast sheet of the ream, thus giving the attendant a Visual indication ofthe delivery of the predetermined quantity, Consequently upon hearingthe gong. he may Within a suitable time run over the upper sheets ofthose operated upon by the machine fed, and von finding the marked sheetwill be able to remove the unitbundle. Upon the next revolution of thefinger 97 after the tripping of the latch for the marking device, saidfinger engages the end of the shaft-arm 118 raising the pencil from thepaper and allowing the latch to fall back into the depression, thepencil thus being restored to its normal position.

rlhe table having reached its maximum height and all the sheets havingbeen delivered therefrom, it is necessary to lower it to receive andpresent for feeding another pile of sheets. Shaft has loosely turningupon it a sprocket-Wheel 119 driven by a chain 120 extending over avvheel 121 secured to the shaft 55. ylhe Wheel 119 carries one elementof a jaw-clutch, the other element 122 of which is splined forlongitudinal movement upon the shaft 85 and is engaged by a lever 125fulcrui ed at its upper eX- tremity upon a bracket 12e. For the purposeof shifting this lever, a rod 125 sliding through guides on thestandards 10 reachesV across the machine to the operators side, andthere is provided with a handle. By means of this, when it is desired toreturn the table to its initial feeding position, the operator may causethe engagement of the clutch-elements, he having iirst thrown the paWl83 out of contact with the ratchet- Wheel 84. rhereupon the screws 12are rotated reifersely to their feeding movement and the table descends.vl.When the initial position is reached, the table is stoppedautomatically by the contact of a projection 126 With an angular endyportion 127 of the lever 123. This mores the lever .outwardly anddisengages the clutch, and when the operator has supplied another pileof sheets, he has only to again throw the paWl into cooperation with theratchet Wheel, When the upward travel and feed Will be resumed.

Having thus described my invention, l claim:

1. An apparatus for feeding sheets from a pile. comprising a memberproif'ided with a face having a yieldable aufa non-yieldable portion,these portions being in simultaneous engagement with a pluralitj.' ofthe sheets7 the yieldable portion of the sheetengaging surfaceconforming in mintour to the edO'es of said sheets, and means fordrawing the sheets from proximity to the member.

2. An apparatus for feeding sheets comprising a member having acontinuous yieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a pluralityment With a single sheet coincidcntly with the engagement of theyield-able face, and means for drawing the sheets from proximity to themember.

3. An apparatus for feeding sheets comprising a member having ayieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheetsand a rigid face for engagement with single sheet coineidentli.'Y withthe engagement of the yieldable face, and means for drawing the sheetsfrom proximity to said member.

f1. An apparatus for feeding reets comprising a member having ayieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheetsand a rigid face for engagement with a single sheet. means for drawingthe sheets from proximity to said member, and means for adjusting theengaging faces toward and from the sheet-drawing means.

5. An apparatus for feeding sheets comprising a member having ayieldable face for simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheetsand a roughened face for engagement with a single sheet. and means fordrawing the sheets from proximity to said member. n

6. An apparatus for feeding sheets coinprising a member having a surfacefor simultaneous engagement with a plurality of sheets and an indeaendent surface for engagement with a single sheet, means for drawingthe sheets from proximity to said member, and means for adjusting theenfaces toward and from the sheetdraiving means.

7. ln a sheet feeder, a retaining member provided with a face having aportion ladapted to conform in contour to the edges of sheets and a facefor engageof a plurality of the sheets and an independent portion forengagement with another sheet, and feeding means cooperating with theretaining member.

8. In a feeder, a rotatable shaft, arms projecting therefrom, andfanning and feeding levers fulcrumed on the arms and having operatingsurfaces of different character.

9. In a feeder', a rotatable shaft, arms projecting therefrom, fanningand feeding levers fulcrumed on the arms, and means for adjustablysecuring the arms at different angles about the shaft.

10. In a feeder, the combination With revolnble arms, of fanning andfeeding members movable on the arms and having operating surfaces ofdifferent character, and adjustable means for yieldably connecting thearms and members.

11. In a feeder, a retaining device having an operating face Consistingof a member movably mounted upon the retaining device and provided Witha portion of yieldable material, and means for adjusting the yieldableportion upon the body of the retaining device in the direction of feed.

12. In afeeder, a presser-foot having a plate movable thereon, and ascrew threaded through the presser-foot and rotatably engaging theplate.

13. A feeder Comprising a retaining member, fanning and feeding members,and means whereby the angular' relation of the farming and feedingmembers may be varied.

l-l. In a sheet-feeder, alternately acting revoluble advancing membersfor operating upon the sheets, and means whereby one only of theadvancing members may be temporarily fixed from its normal position andout of cooperation with the sheets.

15. A feeder comprising a support, alternately acting fanning andfeeding members movable thereon, and means for securing the feedingmember in a Position on the support other than occupied in the normaloperation of the feeder.

16. A sheet-feeder comprising standards, longitudinal supportsprojecting from the standards, carriers mounted upon the supports,transverse supports held by the carriers, other carriers on thetransverse supports, a longitudinal support held in the last-namedcarriers, and a device coperating with the sheets and being mounted uponthe longitudinal support.

17. A sheet-feeder comprising standards, longitudinal supportsprojecting from the standards, carriers mounted upon the supports,transverse supports held bythe carriers, other carriers on thetransverse supports, a longitudinal support held in the last-namedCarriers, and devices cooperating with the sheets and being mounted uponthe last-named carriers and upon the longitudinal support.

1S. A sheet-feeder` comprising standards,

longitudinal supports projecting from the standards, carriers mountedupon the supports, transverse supports held by the carriers, othercarriers on the transverse supports, a longitudinal support held in thelast-named carriers, feeding means mounted upon the last-named carriers,and a retaining member mounted upon the longitudinal supp-ort.

Signed at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,this twenty-third day of June 1913.

HARMON E. LINDBLADIFI.

Witnesses:

ANGIER L. GOODWIN,Y CHARLOTTE M. DoHERTY.

Copies of this patent may be obtaine for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. e

